Asian Equities Analyst, Logistics & Transport

Tracking Traffic

Focusing on Asian logistics, transportation, and travel companies

Asian Equities Analyst, Logistics & Transport, Tracking Traffic

Daniel Hellberg

Equity Capital Markets

We hope <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/dida-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:29701:1" rel="noopener">Dida (DIDA HK)</a> will publish another set of updated financial statements (from Q3 2020) before it lists in Hong Kong later this year. If and when those results are published, investors should study them carefully to detect signs of a resurgent <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/didi-chuxing-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:27467:1" rel="noopener">DiDi Chuxing (1284375D CH)</a> , the ride-hailing giant that exited the car pool market in late 2018 but quietly re-entered about a year ago.
The two most telling signs of a DiDi ChuXing resurgence in the car pool segment would be: 
<ol>
<li>Dida Inc's car pool revenue growing slower than its car pool ride volume or GTV</li>
<li>A sharp rise in Sales &amp; Marketing expenses relative to DiDa Inc's overall revenue</li>
</ol>
Both of the above metrics would be reflected in DiDa Inc's car pool 'take rate': the net revenue it earns on booking car pool rides after deducting any incentives paid to drivers, payments that have likely diminished dramatically in the two years since Didi ChuXing exited the market. 
We suspect that in the absence of a large, savvy competitor (like DiDi ChuXing), DiDa Inc's 'take rate' is higher and its spending on Sales &amp; Marketing is lower than it would be otherwise. Signs that DiDi ChuXing is aggressively pushing its way back into this market -- which it used to dominate, and not so long ago -- would be negative for DiDa Inc, in our view.
In fact, the 'free ride' DiDa Inc has enjoyed as the dominant (and quite profitable) player in the growing car pool segment could come to an end.

We hope Dida (DIDA HK) will publish another set of updated financial statements (from Q3 2020) before it lists in Hong Kong later this year. If and when those results are published, investors should study them carefully to detect signs of a resurgent DiDi Chuxing (1284375D CH) , the ride-hailing giant that exited the car pool market in late 2018 but quietly re-entered about a year ago.
The two most telling signs of a DiDi ChuXing resurgence in the car pool segment would be: 

Dida Inc's car pool revenue growing slower than its car pool ride volume or GTV
A sharp rise in Sales &amp; Marketing expenses relative to DiDa Inc's overall revenue

Both of the above metrics would be reflected in DiDa Inc's car pool 'take rate': the net revenue it earns on booking car pool rides after deducting any incentives paid to drivers, payments that have likely diminished dramatically in the two years since Didi ChuXing exited the market. 
We suspect that in the absence of a large, savvy competitor (like DiDi ChuXing), DiDa Inc's 'take rate' is higher and its spending on Sales &amp; Marketing is lower than it would be otherwise. Signs that DiDi ChuXing is aggressively pushing its way back into this market -- which it used to dominate, and not so long ago -- would be negative for DiDa Inc, in our view.
In fact, the 'free ride' DiDa Inc has enjoyed as the dominant (and quite profitable) player in the growing car pool segment could come to an end. 

No More 'Free Ride'? Key DiDa Inc Metrics That Could Reveal a DiDi ChuXing Resurgence